What's Your Excuse?

We make so many excuses for not submitting our writing. I don’t have enough time. I have too many other obligations. I’m too young. I’m too old. I’ve got too many rejections. I don’t have an agent. Any sound familiar? If I had used the excuse of age, I would never have been published. My agent believed in me and kept submitting my manuscripts. When I wanted to quit, friends encouraged me to keep on.

When God calls us to a task, He expects us to finish it. If we’re obedient to that call, He will give us what we need to complete it because He who began the work in us will carry through until it’s completed. Galatians 6:9 tells us not to grow weary when we’re doing God’s work because we’ll reap a harvest when God sets the time.

At one time I asked God if He’d forgotten how old I was getting and how time passed by. Of course He knows how old I am and how long I have on this earth. I just wished He’d let me in on His plans. With so many younger authors getting contracts and having success, I began to think it would never happen to me, but I persevered, not ready to give up.
Well, God doesn’t forget. He doesn’t sleep. He never quits work. He’s always there willing to help us reach our goals when we call on Him for help. The Lord does expect us to do our part. That part is to put ourselves in that chair and write and submit them.

Whether you first contract comes at age twenty-three or seventy-three, God’s timing is always perfect. He’ll never let us down. The answer may not always be what we hoped and prayed for, but His answer is the best for us at that time. It always is.

I’ll be 76 this summer and by that time I will have 9 novels and 2 novellas published with another novel due out in the fall and 3 new ones plus an e-book and a novella contracted. Novels number seven and eight were released this month.

When God opened the door for me, He kicked it wide open. Prayer, perseverance and patience reaped the harvest at the time God ordained. Do whatever it takes to write. Quit making excuses. If you’re serious, God will help you find the time, face rejection, find an agent, or create the stories. At other times He may tell you to wait a season and take care of other things first. Listen to His voice and calling. Write as much as you can when you can. Be patient, and pray for His guidance in all that you do. Jeremiah tells you to call on Him, and He will answer and tell you great things you do not know. Jeremiah also tells us that God has great plans for us, plans to give us hope and a future. So press on to what God has called you to do whether it is to wait for a season to begin or whether it is to work hard now. Pressing on will lead you where you need to go.

So what excuses have you used to keep from submitting?